Legend

"Level thirty... Innate Soul Power at level thirty?!" Huo Yuhao's voice rose even louder.

A Golden Sacred Dragon Martial Soul with Innate Soul Power at level fifteen was still within the bounds of his understanding, but Innate Full Soul Power at level thirty? Was that really something a human could achieve?

Just who was the legendary Pope Chen Mo? How powerful must his Martial Soul have been to grant him Innate Soul Power at level thirty?

"Pretty shocking, right? When I first heard about it, I thought my great-grandfather was just trying to provoke me."

"But later, I learned it was true." Bei Bei laced his hands behind his head and continued:

"There are plenty of legends about Pope Chen Mo, and it's hard to tell which are true and which are false. But this heaven-defying Innate Soul Power is exactly the same in every version."

"According to legend, the middle part of Spirit Hall's emblem represents Pope Chen Mo's Martial Soul. But no one knows what it actually was, and it never appeared again in the ten thousand years that followed."

Even Huo Yuhao needed several deep breaths to calm himself.

If Pope Chen Mo really had possessed such terrifying talent, then it wasn't hard to understand how Spirit Hall had grown into the behemoth it was today.

Unprecedented in the past, unmatched in the future.

That was the most fitting description Huo Yuhao could think of.

"Enough, let's stop talking about him. We don't want to make our new little genius lose confidence." Bei Bei turned to look at Huo Yuhao and continued:

"It's a fact that our talents can't compare to that legend, but we're also the beginning of a legend in our own era. That's what my great-grandfather taught me."

"If you lose the courage to surpass others, you'll be nothing but a good-for-nothing your whole life. Pretty stirring, huh?"

Huo Yuhao nodded. It was true. He had already been a darling of Douluo Continent, and now he'd been given a second life, along with even better talent than before. Why should he feel inferior to someone from history?

He might not be any worse than that legend!

Once he'd thought it through, the anxiety in his heart dissipated.

"Haha, not bad, not bad." Bei Bei laughed heartily a few times.

"By the way, Big Brother Bei Bei, we should still be quite a distance from Star Dou Forest. Aren't we getting ready to set off?" Ever since he'd started talking with Bei Bei, Huo Yuhao hadn't felt the slightest jolt. He'd assumed they hadn't left yet.

Bei Bei was taken aback, then realized what Huo Yuhao meant and pointed toward the curtain beside him.

"Of course we've already set off. It's just that the carriage I ride doesn't usually travel by land."

Huo Yuhao pulled back the curtain. Outside, he saw neither the motionless gates of the Martial Soul Community nor the scenery receding into the distance, but clouds drifting past behind them.

"Spirit Hall's patented Sky Soul Horse Soul Tool Carriage. A hundred li for just three white radishes."

"It's a product of combining Soul Tool Technology with traditional horse-drawn carriages. The Soul Tool provides lift, while the Sky Soul Horse supplies a small amount of basic power."

"Oh, right. This thing was also invented by Chen Mo. It was just rediscovered in the library and recreated a few years before I was born."

Huo Yuhao wasn't surprised in the slightest. Sure enough, this was another thing connected to Chen Mo.

And judging by his estimate of their speed, in the time it had taken them to chat, they'd already covered at least two-thirds of the distance from the Martial Soul Community to Star Dou Forest!

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Huo Yuhao noticed that the scenery outside was gradually sinking. In other words, they'd reached their destination and were about to land.

When the wheels touched the ground once more and his feet were back on solid earth, the whole experience still felt unreal.

That long, long journey in his memories had apparently taken only a few minutes of chatting. It was truly hard to believe.

"Lord Bei Bei, I knew you'd be here." Wang Hong came to the window and looked helplessly at Bei Bei, who was sitting with Huo Yuhao.

"What, I can't make a new friend?"

Wang Hong shook his head. "You can, of course, but you keep disappearing like this. It's a huge blow to my salary. I hope you'll take pity on it and spare it."

Bei Bei had heard that line more times than he could count. After giving a couple of perfunctory replies, he jumped out of the carriage with Huo Yuhao.

Before Huo Yuhao lay the same primeval forest he remembered, unchanged in every way.

"Is this... Star Dou Forest?" Huo Yuhao looked around. Of all the places, this one was almost exactly as he remembered it, except that the crude signpost was gone.

"That's right. Star Dou Forest is one of only three primeval ecosystems on Douluo Continent that haven't been included in the Martial Soul Hall Soul Beast Protection System." After ordering the others to settle the Sky Soul Horse, Wang Hong led Bei Bei and Huo Yuhao into the entrance of Star Dou Forest.

The Martial Soul Hall Soul Beast Protection System...

Huo Yuhao repeated the term to himself. Another thing he had no memory of whatsoever.

"That's right. Most of the Soul Beast forests on Douluo Continent have been brought under this system, and corresponding Soul Beast nature reserves have been established."

"Each nature reserve is watched over by a Yellow-Robed Martial Soul Envoy with at least the cultivation of a Soul Emperor. Only Soul Masters registered with Spirit Hall and granted permission can enter to hunt for Soul Rings."

"Meanwhile, Spirit Hall ensures that Soul Master hunting doesn't disrupt the ecosystem of the Soul Beasts there, allowing it to continue undisturbed."

"Star Dou Forest, along with the Far North and Douluo Sea, is one of only three places where people can hunt for Soul Rings freely."

Some of the terms Wang Hong used, such as 'nature reserve' and 'ecosystem,' were unfamiliar to Huo Yuhao, but their general meaning was easy enough to guess from the words themselves.

Spirit Hall did this, firstly, to prevent the Soul Beast population from declining sharply due to indiscriminate human hunting, as it had in Huo Yuhao's previous life. Secondly, it was to embed itself in every stage of a Soul Master's cultivation, as they'd mentioned earlier.

As for why those three places hadn't been brought under the system, it wasn't hard to understand. They were simply too vast—even Spirit Hall couldn't fully encompass them.

Of these places, Star Dou Forest and the Far North were both familiar concepts from his previous life.

As for Douluo Sea... judging by the name, it must be where Sea Soul Beasts lived.

"Then, Big Brother Bei Bei, there must be a lot of people hunting for Soul Rings in those three places, right?"

At the way Huo Yuhao addressed Bei Bei, Wang Hong's brow twitched. This kid had some talent—he'd already gotten himself a big brother?

"No. According to my great-grandfather, far fewer people hunt for Soul Rings in those three places than in Soul Beast nature reserves."

Bei Bei answered Huo Yuhao's question, then continued explaining:

"In Spirit Hall's Soul Beast nature reserves, the habitats of every Soul Beast are mapped out precisely."

"Species, attributes, age—everything can be found on the distribution maps Spirit Hall provides."

"Most people wouldn't gamble their luck and their lives for that tiny chance. When there are places that are easy to search and safe, and that pinpoint the exact Soul Beast you need, why wouldn't you go there?"

Bei Bei's explanation was easy to understand. Huo Yuhao thought to himself that if Soul Beast nature reserves had existed in his previous life, he definitely wouldn't have risked his life gambling on luck in Star Dou Forest.

"But if you choose a primeval gathering place for Soul Beasts like Star Dou Forest, what happens is..."

Suddenly, a shadow flashed before Huo Yuhao's eyes. By the time he reacted, Wang Hong was already holding up a white-furred baboon with a fierce expression.

Even with Wang Hong's hand clamped around its neck, the baboon was still flailing its claws wildly.

Just then, a milky-white orb of light began to gather in its mouth, containing a surge of murky Soul Power.

But in the next instant, Wang Hong cleanly severed its head. Even as it hit the ground and splattered blood, the baboon still wore that ferocious expression.

A bright yellow Soul Ring slowly emerged above its corpse.

"Here, you could be attacked by a Soul Beast at any moment." Bei Bei looked at the corpse on the ground and spoke slowly.